1. Field of Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to enabling secure access to applications executed on computing devices or encrypted data in computing devices, and more specifically to using passwords to authorize access to encrypted data or applications in a mobile computing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A password is a word or string of characters that is used for authenticating an identity of a user or for gaining access to a restricted resource. Passwords are often used by itself or in combination with other schemes (e.g., digital certificate) to authenticate the user. The security level of passwords can differ depending on the length of the passwords and the number of possible characters that can be used in the passwords. The longer the length of the permissible passwords and larger the number of usable characters in the passwords, the higher the level of security of the passwords. Short passwords with limited choice of usable characters are more vulnerable to cracking (for example, by brute force attacks) compared to longer passwords.
For convenience reasons, passwords are predominantly used to authenticate users or control access to resources on mobile devices. Mobile devices often have user interface devices such as touch screens that are less accurate and slower to operate. Hence, users tend to shun away from using complex passwords or other more complex authentication schemes when using mobile devices. On smartphones, for example, most users prefer the use of a four digit numeric password over longer and more complicated passwords.
Despite the small size and portability, mobile computing devices such as smartphones often store and access sensitive information. Such sensitive information may include, for example, personal information (e.g., social security number, bank account numbers and passwords), confidential emails or messages, and credit card numbers. Oftentimes, the security provided by simple passwords is insufficient, making the mobile computing devices vulnerable to attack by a third party.